


I'm ok, but I'm really not

by First_page



Series: Whump & Webs [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Blood Loss, Broken Hearts, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Sad Peter Parker, Sickfic, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Trail of Blood, Whump, Whumptober 2020, peter panic attack, whumptober prompt 10 11 and 19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/First_page/pseuds/First_page
Summary: Peter is bullied at school and he has his Aunt May and Tony to make him feel better.Whumptober prompt 10: blood loss, trail of blood, prompt 11: crying, prompt 19: broken heartsThis one is heavy on the irondad :)
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whump & Webs [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979068
Comments: 8
Kudos: 155
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	I'm ok, but I'm really not

**Author's Note:**

> It was hard to figure out how to make someone with superpowers get bullied so I hope I did ok.

Peter sits on the subway and lets his head lean on his hand. The subway train is empty enough for him to get a seat, but full enough for him to be squished between people on either side of him. He spends the cramped ride scrolling through his phone in a daze.

He continues to zombie-walk, dragging his feet against the concrete sidewalk as he walks home. When he arrives at his apartment building, he reaches into his pocket for his keys and drops them before he can get them in the lock. He bends down to get them and tries again, ignoring how much his hands are shaking.

He’s hoping that Aunt May is busy or asleep or anything else that would help him avoid facing her, but when he pushes the door open, her chipper voice greets him. “Is that you Sweetie? How was your day at school?”

Peter had been able to keep the tears from escaping all day, but he starts to lose the battle and one salty traitor slides down his cheek.

He quickly wipes it away with the back of his hand and is thankful that Aunt May is having this conversation from two rooms away.

He sniffs and tries to keep his voice even. “I’m fine. I’m just gonna wash up and chill in my room.”

Aunt May answers with an even more chipper voice. “Sure thing Petey.”

Peter walks into the bathroom and lets his backpack slide off of his shoulders and onto the floor. He walks over to the mirror and looks at his reflection. The image is blurry because his eyes are filled with tears.

He blinks a few times, and the tears fall out, bringing the image in front of him into focus. It’s the image of a black eye, a nose stained red with dried blood, and a face that’s abnormally red. He takes a deep breath and wipes the dried blood from his nose. He closes his eyes as he flashes back.

_Flash is walking toward him down the hallway in between classes. Flash smirks. “Hey Dork. What are you reading?”_

_Peter is carrying a stack of books. Peter’s about to answer, but Flash pushes under the stack and the top book smacks into Peter’s face. Peter winces as he feels blood run down from his nose._

Peter opens his eyes and looks at the mirror, touching the tender area around his black eye. It’s already starting to heal, but it’s still a dark shade of purple. He shivers as it triggers another flashback.

_This time Peter is walking down the stairs and Flash sticks out a leg, tripping him. Peter tumbles down the stairs and hits the railing before he reaches the bottom. He hears a couple of kids laughing as he clumsily finds his way back up to his feet._

Peter gazes at the mirror and loses a few more tears as he lifts his shirt. There’s a large circle bruise on his left side, right by his ribs. He keeps the shirt up with one hand and touches the bruise with the other. He hisses as the pain sets in and jolts the memory back.

_Two guys are holding his arms and Flash is trying to shove Peter into a locker. Peter is filled with fear. Ever since he was trapped in between a wall while chasing a criminal a few days ago, he has developed a fear of small spaces. He was never claustrophobic before the incident, but the thought of being trapped in a locker is beyond terrifying. Peter can’t use his superstrength or his secret will be revealed, but he still tries to struggle._

_Flash and the two guys manage to get Peter over to the locker, and Flash punches Peter in the ribs to knock him all the way into the metal prison._

_They close the door, spin the lock and run away laughing._

_Peter tries not to hyperventilate as he waits for the sound of people to leave. His chest tightens up and he gasps for breath as he waits for silence._

_When it sounds like he is alone, he uses his enhanced strength to push the door off the hinges. He falls out of the locker and onto his hands and knees. He struggles to breathe as he forces the oxygen into his lungs._

Peter is back in his bathroom, but somehow he’s on his hands and knees. He must have fallen hard because his knees are stinging. He feels something warm dripping from his nose and realizes that his nose is bleeding again. He’s pretty sure that the blood isn’t from the prior damage though. It’s probably from the stress. This wouldn’t be his first stress nosebleed.

May is frantically knocking on the door. “Pete? Pete? Are you alright? It sounds like something fell.”

Peter answers between sobs and he wipes his bloody nose with the back of his hand. He had felt bad before, but now he just feels pathetic. “I-I’m f-f-fine.”

Peter hears the knob turn and curses himself for not locking the door.

May slowly pushes the door open and sees Peter in tears, with a trail of blood coming down from his nose down to his shirt. Her nephew is on the bathroom floor and looks like he just went ten rounds in the ring.

She runs to kneel down on the floor next to him. “Oh my God! What’s wrong? Your bleeding.”

Peter swings his legs so that he’s hugging his knees. The tighter he draws himself in on himself, the harder it will be for May to see how beat up he is.

May puts a hand under Peter’s chin to tilt his head up and she cringes. “Oh Petey. Was it the guys at school again?”

Peter bites his lip. “I’m ok.”

May rips off a few pieces of toilet paper and holds them to Peter’s nose to stop the bleeding. Normally Peter would fuss that she’s babying him, but he literally doesn’t have the physical or emotional strength to fight back.

When the bleeding stops, and May has the situation under control, Peter looks back at his nurse with shiny eyes. He gave her those same tear-filled eyes every time that he fell off his bike as a kid and May had to patch up a skinned knee, or a scraped elbow.

May scoots closer to her nephew and gives him a hug. Peter can’t hold it back anymore and cries on her shoulder.

Peter cries for a good five minutes before May pulls away from the hug and wipes a tear away from his eye with her thumb. She ruffles his hair. “What do you need Pumpkin?”

Peter can’t look May in the eyes. “I just – I j-just wanna go t-to my r-room.”

May nods and helps him up. “Come with me to the kitchen and have some water first, ok? It will make you feel better.”

Peter lets May lead him to the kitchen and he drinks a glass of water. His hand is shaking so much that he barely drinks without spilling it all over himself.

When the glass is empty, he pushes himself to standing and sniffs. “I’ll be in my room.”

May takes the glass. “Feel better Sweetie.”

Peter drags himself down the hallway. His eye is throbbing, and all the crying is giving him a pretty decent headache.

When he reaches his room he gingerly sits on the edge of his bed, but he sees a familiar billionaire sitting on the chair at his desk.

Tony leans back in the chair. “Rough day?”

Peter feels his eyes well up again. “Yeah.”

Tony lifts himself from the chair and sits next to Peter on the bed. He puts a hand on Peter’s knee. “You want to talk about it Sport?”

Peter avoids answering the question and rubs his red stained nose. “Why are you in my room?”

Tony moves his hand from Peter’s knee to his shoulder. “Your Aunt May sent me a text.”

Peter nods. She must have sent the secret text when he was crying on her shoulder.

Peter is still managing to not cry in front of Tony, but his eyes are pink and puffy, and the tears are on the verge of falling.

Tony repeats the question. “You want to talk about it?”

Peter bites his lip. “Um, it’s this guy at school. He hates me for some reason and he just kind of does stuff.”

Tony lifts an eyebrow. “Does this guy have a name?”

Peter’s mouth lifts into a small smile. “For now, let’s just call him a guy.”

Tony sighs. “Ok, this guy without a name bullies you a lot?”

Peter shrugs. “I could easily beat him up if I wanted to, but I don’t want to give away my secret. It’s usually not that bad, but today he knocked books out of my hands, tripped me on the stairs, and pushed me into a locker.”

Tony’s voice is desperately trying to mask the homicidal rage. “He sounds like a dick.”

Peter’s breathing speeds up. “I was sitting on the subway and thinking about what happened and I felt like such a loser. I mean, I didn’t do anything to him, but he wants me to feel like I’m a worthless piece of nothing. And then I started to think about what you would think about me if you saw me being shoved into a locker. I’m an embarrassment to the Avengers.” His voice starts to break. “Flash is right. I-I’m just a l-loser th-that–.”

Peter starts to cry.

Tony speaks softly. “You are the furthest thing from a loser.”

Peter is crying so hard that he’s hiccupping between sobs. “N-No I’m nothing Mr. Stark. I-I was thinking on the t-train about w-what Uncle Ben would th-think if he w-was still a-alive. He w-would b-be so embarrassed. He –.”

Peter’s sobs turn into wheezes and he’s going into a full panic attack. He grabs his chest as his heart races. He rapidly gasps for air, but nothing goes in or out.

Tony turns Peter to face him and puts his hands on his shoulders. “Whoa kid. You gotta calm down. You gotta breathe.”

Peter forces air into his lungs and manages to speak in raspy gasps. “I-I’m sorry… Uncle Ben.”

Tony isn’t sure who’s shaking more, him or Peter. Tony shakes his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. You’re not even my kid and I’m so freakin’ proud of you. I didn’t know your uncle, but I’m sure he’s up there looking down on you and he’s just as freakin’ proud as I am.”

Peter takes a shaky breath.

This time it’s Tony’s eyes that are tearing up. “You are an amazing kid Peter and just because some punk kid thinks tossing you into a locker and calling you a loser is a good idea, that doesn’t mean you are anything less than incredible.”

Peter stutters. “You r-really m-mean that Mr. Stark?”

Tony nods.

Peter sniffs. “I just feel so worthless, you know?”

Tony takes a moment to compose himself. “I know what it’s like to be bullied. It sucks.”

Peter scrubs at his eyes, wiping away the tears.

Tony speaks slowly. “So, the kid’s name is Flash?”

Peter’s eyes grow large. “Please Mr. Stark. Don’t hurt him.”

Tony clenches his jaw. “Full honesty, I want to destroy the little piece of –.” He takes a breath and decides to change course. “Tell you what, I’ll leave the jerk alone if you let me speak to your principal. I’m a billionaire mega-celebrity. I’m sure I can throw my weight around a little.”

Peter smiles and nods. He’s doesn’t want to get anyone in trouble (even Flash), but the idea of Tony defending him and standing up to the principal warms Peter’s heart.

Tony smiles back. “Good. Now why don’t you get some rest. You must have a killer headache after crying that much.”

Peter winces. “Yeah, kinda.”

Tony expects Peter to climb under the covers, but instead Peter leans on Tony’s shoulder as a pillow. Tony scoots back and lets Peter’s head rest against his chest. It’s a more comfortable position for Tony, but it doesn’t matter to Peter because he’s already halfway to dreamland.

A delirious Peter mumbles. “Love you Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiles. “Love you too, kiddo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for the continued support. A quick update. I'm currently writing the last two prompts for whumptober so I think I'll finish on time, but I'll still upload one a day so I can edit and make everything look fancy. Depending on how I spread out those prompts it will be about 21 or 22 parts for the entire series :)


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